You can almost see them dancing and singing about getting the free credit report, a message delivered behind the very creative lyrics mouthed by actors who convince you it’s really them singing.[photopress:credit_report.jpg,full,alignright]

Catchy. And important, too.

The back story on the commercial (Eric Violette is the “singer” you might recall in the pirate outfit) is that it was getting increasingly confusing for consumers to locate the actual website that offers their free credit report, a federal entitlement since November 2003 when Congress passed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FAIR) Act.Read more…

The federal Bureau of Land management, which oversees 245 million acres of public lands in 12 western states, is looking to introduce the same approach it uses for oil and gas leases when it comes to wind and solar projects — competitive bidding.

“The renewable energy resources on America’s public lands are enormous,” BLM Director Bob Abbey, said in a statement. “The competitive options we are evaluating are part of our commitment to improving the process by which we provide access for responsible renewable energy development while providing a fair return for the use of the public lands.”

The BLM estimates that it has nearly 21 million acres with wind potential and 20 million acres – in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah – with solar potential.

The pace of development on public lands has been slowly building. In 2010, nine solar and one wind project, covering 44,844 acres, were approved. In 2011, nine solar and four wind projects on more than 40,000 public acres and significant private land were approved.

Laura Keeney writes about aerospace and airlines for The Post. When she's not at work, you can usually find her taking in live music, reading voraciously, or doing something science-related and nerdy. She also loves The Clash ... a lot.

Emilie Rusch covers retail and commercial real estate for The Post. A Wisconsin native and Mizzou graduate, she moved to Colorado in 2012. Before that, she worked at a small daily newspaper in South Dakota. It's the one with Mount Rushmore.